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With tryouts officially under way for
the Corona del Sol mens basketball team,
expectations will be high for this
experience-laden squad.
With as many as eight returning seniors,
one of the Aztecs’ biggest losses from
last season will be assistant coach
Jace Coburn.
Reaching
only 12 wins last season , the varsity
basketball team did not really catch
fire until region competition began.
The team did finish strong and was able
to capture a share of the title along
with rivals Desert Vista and Mountain
Pointe. Those clubs will likely be
formidable competition this season as
well.
“Desert Vista will be tough,” senior
Brett Miller said, adding, “We’ve
got eight strong seniors coming back and
we should be real tough and fun to
watch.”
The large amount of talent on this
year’s team has led to many seniors
being
recruited by college scouts,
especially 6-foot-7-inch center Sean
Imadiyi.
As a leader for the Aztecs last year, he
will be counted on to carry the team
deep into state.
“Our season rests on his shoulders,”
Senior Clayton Bates said.
“He is getting looked at by Division
1 colleges.”
This group of players started to mesh
together while playing at the University
of San Diego summer basketball camp.
The team won ten games straight before
falling in the championship game to a
California high school by three points.
“We’ve got a very experienced team this
year,” Bates said. “We’d like to start
off strong and have a really good
season.”
Coming off a 12-17 season in which depth
was a problem, underclassmen will need
to step up to give the Aztecs some
needed relief minutes this year.
“I’ve been really impressed with our
juniors, specifically Brad Carrol,
Phil Feinberg, and Johnny
Beerling,” Bates said. “Sophomore
Nick Timpone can contribute to
this team as well.”
This year’s region will have more depth
than any in recent memory. More than
half of the players named to last year’s
all-region first and second teams were
juniors. Marcos de Niza returns highly
recruited point guard Kal Bay,
and despite turmoil regarding their
coaching situation, Mountain Pointe and
their four corners stall offense will
continue to challenge the Aztecs.
“Region games are always tough because
teams play better in region,” Bates
said. “All region teams will be big
matchups because we know each other and
have played against each other for
years.”
The Aztec’s varsity basketball team will
be facing some extremely tough
competition this upcoming season, but
with their talent and poise they have a
chance for a truly special year.
“I think we can come together, win
region, and hopefully be one of the best
teams to ever come out of Corona,”
Miller said. “Count on a winning
season.”
Kyrene Corridor resident Bryan
Winfrey has been the “Voice of the
Valley Christian Trojans” for the past
three years. He has been honored for
all of his hard work by being named by
the National Association of Sports
Public Address Announcers (NASPAA) as
the Arizona and National Rookie Sports
Announcer of the Year. As a junior at
Valley Christian, Winfrey first began
calling games for both of the basketball
teams as well as girls volleyball. Now
a student at ASU, Winfrey is majoring in
Elementary Education. He has also gone
from announcing the games to setting
them up, by becoming the athletic
director at Gethsemane Lutheran. |
